YACHT club bosses have revealed quick-thinking staff untied a boat from its mooring when it caught on fire to save other boats from being destroyed - as it emerged its devastated owners had been eating dinner nearby and watched in disbelief as it went up in flames.

The couple are now being put up in a hotel after the fire destroyed their boat at Parkstone Yacht Club last night.

Emergency services remain on scene today, while the cause of the fire is investigated.

Read more: PICTURES: Moment boat caught fire at yacht club with black smoke 'seen for miles'

Bournemouth Echo:

Parkstone general manager Paul Jennings said: “It’s going to take a few days to determine what’s what.

“There was a yacht tied at the end of the pontoon and we were able to untie it and move it away from the existing boats. We’ve got a really highly skilled team who were able to ring fence it and everybody was safe.

“The owners were eating at the time so they were sat in the dining room and they saw the smoke go up, so it was quite traumatic for lots of people.”

Bournemouth Echo:

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The fire brigade, harbour master, RNLI, the coastguard and armed police were in attendance and one of the club’s rear commodores put the yacht owners up in a hotel.

Mr Jennings said: “They were quite well looked after because I think he was fairly new to boating and it was quite a traumatic experience for him, as it was for all the other members because it’s a horrible sight.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Picture by Jamie C Simmons

The yacht club are now working with authorities and there is a boom around the boat as a precaution for contamination.

Mr Jennings said: “We think all the fuel got burnt, so we don’t think there’s too much, it’s not as bad as it could be so there’s not a lot of contamination going on.”

“Right now, we’re just looking at how safe it is to come in and out, which seems to be fine and fortunately we were able to isolate it from the other boats which is the main thing.”